Friday, November 6, 2009

PROVO, Utah -- A New Mexico soccer player has become an Internet celebrity for the wrong reasons.

Junior defender Elizabeth Lambert was suspended Friday for her infractions the day before during a 1-0 loss to BYU in a Mountain West Conference semifinal. Lambert is seen in video from the game throwing elbows, colliding with several players and then yanking the ponytail of a BYU player who went crashing to the ground.

"My actions were uncalled for," Lambert said in a statement released by New Mexico. "I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation."

I chose my title to be ironic. What's interesting about this news report at CBS Sportsline is the comments made to it. Anytime a black athlete does something like this, there are dozens of posters commenting on how "you can take the "person" out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the "person" - and you know what word I'm using the euphemism of person for...there's also a lot of use of the n-word, and not in a complimentary way.

But Elizabeth Lambert gives people kidney punches and pulls a girl down by her ponytail, and the only thing the posters have to say is jokes about now people will have a reason to watch women's soccer...they want to see a catfight.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

The strength of the cult of victimhood in this country is growing every day, and I'm sorry to see that you have become a victim of it.

You made a joke - a joke - about a man of Latino descent eating a taco when he should have been working, and your joke has been recast into an "ethnic slur" for which you were forced to apologize, and get suspended for a week.

For what?

Does this mean every taco truck that serves the Latino communities around the US now have to change their names because it is racist? I'm reminded of the Beanery restaurant, named after coffee beans, that changed its name to something less evocative because they were afraid that Mexicans would think it was a racist slur because, stereotypically (and also, you know, culturally) they eat beans. A different kind of bean than the coffee bean, mark you.

I'm reminded of a case many years ago, when Lou Piniella was in the broadcast booth with some other guy, an explayer whose name escapes me. In the course of the conversation, rising out of it naturally, the guy said something about 'let me move my wallet to the other side,'. because he didn't want Lou to make off with it. A simple joke, that could be made of anyone, but because Lou was of Hispanic descent, that joke was racist and the guy was fired the next day! Ridiculous!

Then we have the case of Shaq, a few years ago. Stretched out his eyes slantwise and spoke in noises trying to sound like Chinese, just having some fun with Yao Ming. The Asian press erupted, calling for him to be suspended, but Shaq REFUSED to back down, saying it was just a joke. Well, of course if you're black (or any minority) you can't be racist, and so he was allowed to "get away with it." (Not that what he did was racist, but if he'd been any white player, up to and including Larry Bird, he'd have been suspended in a heartbeat.)

It's ironic, when I read the comment threads on YouTube that carry the snippet of your remark, that so many of them calling you a racist refer to others disparagingly as gay or retarded. So it's okay to be homophobic or handicappophobic, but racist...oh no!

That't the thing of course. By apologizing for "uttering a racial slur" (and I'm still waiting to find out where the slur was in that,) you have now been branded a racist. Because obviously someone who utters one racist slur is an out and out racist, no matter the context of when that slur was uttered.

I also think of the message boards of the UConn Huskies and the Tennessee Lady Vols. The north and the south. And the disparaging terms each set of fans says to the others about STEREOTYPICAL northern and southern behavior. Inbreeding in the south, wheyfaces in the north, for example. Of course, since these are white folks making these cracks about each other, it's not racist or regionalist... but let a black poster get attacked and decide to make an issue of it.... whoa nellie!

In short, Mr. Griese, I'm sure you made you joke in all innocence, and didn't expect it to offend anyone. And I regret that you allowed yourself to be intimidated into apologizing for something that didn't need to be apologized for. I regret that the news media is saying you said a "racial slur" when all you did was make a joke! (I don't watch comics on TV - white or black - but I'm willing to be that 90% of their comedy is based on stereotpyes and *that* is why it's funny.)

Please, Mr. Griese, stand up for yourself and unfortunate tellers of jokes everywhere. "No, I did not utter a racist slur. I just made a joking comment and since it wasn't about a white player sloughing off to have a Big Mac but rather a Latino player having a taco, everyone's got their knickers in a twist, and they should just lighten up."

That is what you should have said. Instead, your apology has just given yet more strength to the cult of victimhood that is in the process of destroying this country.

Friday, September 4, 2009

The headline at CBS Sportline read: LeGarrette Blount suspended for season for punching taunter.

LeGarrette Blount is a college football player. He may be suspended, but he retains his scholarship and will be able to practice with the team.

Meanwhile his victim, who "asked for it" is probably contemplating suing Blount for assault. Well...he's probably not contemplating it, but lots and lots of lawyers are undoubtedly contemplating it and contacting him promising he won't have to pay a thing unless they get a sizeable settlement from the University for whom Blount plays.

A couple of weeks ago, some college coach wanted his players to shake hands with the players of the opposing team before playing the game. And sports pundits wagged their heads, saying that could never happen because, if two football teams got near each other before the game, emotions would be running so high that fights would undoubtedly break out.

What kind of human beings are our schools churning out, that "men" in college can't even shake hands with each other before a sporting contest. And of course, it's not just the athletes, most of whom wouldn't even qualify to be at that college at all, except they have the physical skills to play football.

But it's not just football players who are animals, of course. What's worse is that the fans are - sitting around in sports bars and getting drunk, and then if some poor nebbish comes in wearing a hat from another team, he's going to get stomped into a coma and the only reaction will be, "Well, he should have known better to go into a sports bar wearing that hat."

Then there's professional wrestling. I never watch that crap, but I see the commercials on TV and they are all the same, lots of over-muscled jocks preening and prancing around, lots of over-endowed women strutting around on high-heels knowing that they are no more than eye-candy and sex objects, with no respect in any gaze looking at them. And what do kids learn? Why, that it's perfectly all right to hit a referee trying to stop you from beating up on a downed opponent, it's perfectly all right stomping someone lying helpless on the ground before you, it's perfectly all right to show no sportsmanship whatever.

And then we wonder how gangs of young kids - both girls and boys - can be wandering around throwing rocks or snowballs at people, and should their victim get angry and tell them off, they'll surround him and stomp him into a coma like the animals they are.

I hate to insult animals with my analogy, by the way. Humans are worse than animals, because they have the brains to know the consequences of their actions. Sadly, they just don't care....

And that makes for a frightening world. 4,000 years of "evolution", and people are just as vicious and psychotic now as they've ever been.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

I just tuend in to the WNBA All-Star game. We've got players in white and players in orange, and not a single player has their name on the back of their shirt so the casual viewer can tell who they are.

That just irks me.

They do it in baseball - the Yankees don't condescend to put names on the backs of their shirts and have never done so. Pat Summit doesn't do it for the Lady Vols.

But when we're talking about the WNBA, a league struggling to establish itself as legitimate (because there are so many male chauvanists out there, and women chauvanists too, who don't respect it), it would help a great deal to add some name recognition to the teams.

Friday, July 24, 2009

On July 23, 2009, Mark Buerhle of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game. ESPN showed the last inning, and it was nice to actually see some drama - the first Tampa Ray batter of that inning actually hit a homerun...except defensive substitution DeWayne Wise climbed the wall and snatched the ball back.

...then juggled it for a few seconds before gaining control!

Congrats to Buerhle.

Now, if only my Boston Red Sox can get their act together! And if only the Yankees will go on a 20-game losing streak. That would make me happy.